Locking mechanism



Jan. 1, 1957 H. ROSEN 2,775,797

LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 31, 1955 INVENTOR. HERBERT ROSEN United States Patent 2,775,797 LOCKING MECHANISM Herbert Rosen, Bayside, N. Y. Application January 31, 1955, Serial No. 484,875 9 Claims. (CI. 20-52 The present invention relates to locking mechanisms and, more particularly, tonovel and improved locking mechanisms for a plurality of panels or the like, which are adapted to slide within respective channels in a frame.

A great variety of locking mechanismshave been designed and are in current .use for sliding panels and sashes. More particularly, various types of self locking and automatically released locking mechanisms have been designed for use in combinations of window sashes and frames, especially for use in the currently popular metal combination storm and screen. sash structures. The current types of locking mechanisms are subject to a number of disadvantages, among which is diflicult maintenance. 1 For example, when it has been desired to provide a locking 'mechanism for an upper sash which will be released by movement'of the lower sash towards the upper part of the frame, leaf springs have been secured to the inside of the frame. These leaf springs carry a pair of spaced latches which project through openings in the frame to engage an angular notch cut in the upper sashstilc. When the lower sash is raised, a camming action takes place to push the leaf spring latch out of engagement with the upper sash stile, thereby releasing the upper sash. The leaf spring may easily become deformed or broken, thereby disabling the lockingjmechanism. When this occurs, it is necessary to notonly remove the sashesfrom the window frame, but the frame itselfmust also be removed from the wall so that the: leaf spring can be repaired or replaced. f

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to' overcome the above and other disadvantages, by providing locking mechanisms which are carried by the sashesahdwhich are easily replaceable; Y j

Another object of the invention, is to provide locking mechanisms which are simple in construction so as to be' readily manufactured and easily operated.

In accordance with an exemplaryembodiment' of the invention, locking detents, which may be manually de pressed or which may be depressed'by the overriding of an adjacent sash, are provided, in at least the upper andlower storm sashes of a combination storm and screen sash structure. Further, in accordance with the invention, the locking detents may be combined with the guide detents disclosed in the applicants copending application Serial No. 375,667, filed August 21, 1953, for Combination Screen and Storm Sash. Still further, the guide detents .may be combined as a unitary structure with an angle or a corner bracket for coupling the sash stiles to theupper or lower sash rails.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures of the drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a combination storm and screen sash with its mid section broken away and other portions partiallybroken away to s how details of the structure, in accordance with the invention;

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Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a combination guide detent and corner bracket;

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of a combination locking detent, guide detent and corner bracket;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a separate locking detent;

' Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the lower left hand corner of the front elevation of Fig. 1, partially broken away to show details of the structure of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a partial side elevation of a window frame with a portion broken away to show the overriding release action for controlling the locking mechanism of the invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a window frame 10 slidably supports a lower storm sash 11, an upper storm sash 12, and a screen sash 13. The frame 10 is preferablyof the type disclosed in the applicants aforementioned copending application Serial No. 375,667, each side of which has three stepped channels for respectively receiving one of the three above mentioned sashes 11, 12, and 13. Each of the sashes 11, 12 and 13 may be formed by extrusions having uniform cross sectional areas. Previously, in this type of window sash construction, the upper and lower rails are joined to the stiles by mortise and tenon' joints, wherein the tenon is held within the' mortise by appropriate punchings made in the mortise during assembly.

In contrast to this type of construction, the stiles and rails of the sashes in the preferred embodiment of n the invention are connected by miter joints held together by angular corner brackets, as shown in Fig. 5. More particularly, the lower rail 20 is joined to the left hand stile 21 of the lower storm sash 11 by a miter joint 22.

A corner bracket and guidemember 23 is positioned within channels 24 in the extrusions forming the rail 20 and the stile 21. Depressions 25 are formed in the corner bracket and guide member 23 to facilitate the locking of the stile and rail to the corner bracket and guide member 23 during assembly, which may be per-' formed in a conventional manner. The corner bracket and guide member may take either the form 23, as shown in Fig. 2, or the form 23a, as shown in Fig. 3. In either case, the miter joints for the stiles and rails are assembled in the same manner.

Each of the sashes 11, 12 and 13 include a corner bracket and guide member 23 or 23a at the four corners thereof. In the case of the screen sash 13, the upper and lower rails are joined to the stiles by corner bracket and guide members 23, since it is normally not necessary to have a locking mechanism for the screen sash.

" The lower storm sash 11 utilizes corner bracket and guide members 23 at three of its corners and a corner bracket and guide member 23a at its fourth corner, i. e.

the lower left hand corner in Fig. 1. In contrast tothe lower storm sash 11, the upper storm sash 12 preferably utilizes four corner bracket and guide members 23, 2.1- though a corner bracket and guide member of the type 23a could be utilized in the upper left hand corner, for example.

The corner bracket and guide members 23 and 23a include guide detents 28 and 28a, respectively, each having a ball bearing 29 which is biased by a spring 30. As described in greater detail in the applicants aforementioned copending application Serial No. 375,667, the guide detents 28 and 28a serve to slidably support their respective sashes in corresponding channels of the frame 10. The guide detents 28 are preferably composed of a dissimilar metal to the frame 10 with which they are in slidable engagement to prevent freezing or sticking in position within the channels of the frame 10 in which they-ride. Since the guide detents 28 and 28a are part of the corner bracket and guide members 23 and 23a, respectively, the corner bracket and guide members 23 and 23a are preferably unitary in form and are composed of a metal dissimilar .to .the frame 10.

As described in greater detail in the applicants aforementioned copending application Serial No. 375,667, notches '31 :are formed in the sides of each of the stepped channels in at least one side of the frame 10 and are spaced apart by a distance equal to the distance separating the guide detents 28. Therefore, when the guide detents 28 of the corner bracket and guide members 23 are aligned with the notches 31 in the channel side associated with the particular sash, viz., in a position such as that occupied by the screen sash 13 in Fig. 1, the sash can be readily removed from the frame 10, as long as the sashes in-front of it have been previously removed. Thus, since the sashes are readily removable, it will be evident that if locking mechanisms are incorporated in the sashes instead of in the frame 10, maintenance of the locking mechanisms will be greatly facilitated.

Let us now discuss the actual locking mechanism which may beseparate from the corner bracket and guide member '23 as shown in its form ,33 in Fig. 4, or which may be integral with the corner bracket and guide member 23a in its form 33a as shown in Fig. 3. In either case, the structures .of the locking detents 33 and 3301 may be the same. More particularly, the locking detents 33 or 33a include a rectangular recess 34 of a configuration adapted to receive a bowed spring member 35 and a lock piece 36.

The lock piece 36 may have a semi-circular shoulder 37 protruding outwardly from one half of its back plate 38, which has a rectangular shape corresponding to the shape .Of the recess 34 within which .it is fitted. On the portion of the back plate 38 not covered by the semicircular shoulder 37 a locking boss .39 is positioned. The locking boss 39 is adapted to fit within a locking notch 40 (Figs. 1 and formed in the outer channel wall of the channel with which the respective lock-ing detent 33 or 33:: is associated, thereby locking the sash in that position. The lock piece 36 also includes a pair of shoulders 41 on the back plate 38 aligned with the upper and lower ends of the semi-circular shoulder 37.

The locking detents 33 and 33a are assembled by first placing the lowered spring member 35 within the recess 34 and then placing the lock piece 36 on top of it, as seen in Fig. 4.

Let us first consider the assembly of a locking detent 33 in a sash stile. More particularly, let us consider the locking detent 33 as assembled with the left hand stile of the upper storm sash 12 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 6. The locking detent 33 is positioned within the channel 24 in the left hand stile 21a of the storm sash 12. A recess 42 is cut into the front face .of the stile so as to freely receive the semi-circular shoulder 37. However, the recess 42 is of a length only slightly greater than the length of the semicircular shoulder 37 so that the shoulders 41 of the lock piece :36 engage the front face of the stile and retain the lock piece 36 in the recess 34 of the locking detent 33. The bowed spring member 35 is slightly stressed under hese conditions to assist the shoulders 41 in retaining the lock piece 36 in position.

The rear portions 43 of the locking detent 33, the corner bracket and guide members 23 and 23a have configurations adapted to snugly fit the channel 24 of the stile .or rails in which they are fitted, each including an elongated recess 44 for receiving a locking ridge 45 in the channel 24, which facilitates the retention of the corner bracket and guide members 23 and 23a and the locking detent .33 in the channels 24 of the extruded rails 20 and the stiles 21. A portion 46 of the locking detent 33 protrudes from the edge of the stile 21a in the same manner as the guide detents 28 and 28a and assists in their guiding action.

When the storm sash 12 is in a position other than that shown in Fig. 1, the bowed spring member 35 and the 4 lock piece 36 will be depressed and the top surface of the locking .boss .39 will ride .under the front portion of the stile 21a. When the storm sash 12 is moved to the position at which it is to be locked, the spring clip 35 forces the locking boss 39 upwardly into the locking notch 40, thereby locking the storm sash 12 in that position.

The locking mechanism can be released by manual pressure on top of the semi-circular shoulder 37 which would depress the lock piece 36 and the spring clip 35, thereby allowing the'stormsash 12 to be moved. Further, instead of manual pressure, the movement of the storm sash 11 in an upward direction so that it passes over the semi-circular shoulder 37 and the lock piece 36 will automatically cause the lock piece 36 and the bowed spring member 35 to be depressed, as shown in Fig. 6, thereby releasing the locking mechanism.

The locking detent 33a which is an integral part of the corner bracket and guide member 23a of Fig. 3 operates in exactly the same manner to lock the sash with which it is associated in a predetermined position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Since the lower storm sash 11 is the forwardmost one of the three sashes 11, 12 and 13, it is obvious that the locking detent 33a cannot be automatically depressed, since there is no other sash positioned to override the semi-circular shoulder 37. However, as described above, the semi-circular shoulder 37 maybe manually depressed thereby unlocking the lower storm sash 11.

Thus there has been provided a novel and improved locking mechanism of a self operated type which can be released by an adjacent sash or by manual pressure and which is extremely simple in design and easily manufacturable and replaceable.

While the above described exemplary embodiment has been directed to a combination screen and storm sash, it is obvious that the invention is equally applicable to locking mechanisms for locking any plurality of sliding panels which are adapted to operate in channels in a frame. Further, it is evident that the above embodiment is susceptible of modification and variation without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, one or more of the sashes can be adapted to be locked in a plurality of different positions, or in any suitable position other than that shown in the drawings. Therefore, the invention is not deemed to be .limitcd except as defined as by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A locking mechanism for a sliding panel or the like which is adapted to slide within a channelled frame, comprising a notch in one side of a channel in the frame and a slidable member having a depressible locking means mounted on one side thereof and movable perpendicularly to a plane substantially containing said sliding panel, said depressible locking means being adapted to slide Within said channel and to engage said notch when aligned therewith.

2. A locking mechanism for a slidable panel or the like adapted to slide within a channelled frame, comprising a notch on one side of a channel in the frame, a slidable member adapted to slide within said channel, and a depressible locking means mounted on the side of said slidable member and adapted to slide within said channel and to engage said notch when aligned therewith, 'said depressible locking means being movable per: pendicularly to a plane substantially containing said sliding panel.

3. A locking mechanism for a sliding panel or the like adapted to slide within a channelled frame, comprising :a notch in one wall of a channel in the frame, a slidable member having a side adapted to slide within said channel, and spring-biased depressible locking means mounted in said side of said slidable member and adapted to engage said notch when aligned therewith, said depressible locking means being movable perpendicularly to a plane substantially containing said sliding panel.

4. An automatically releasable lock mechanism for sliding panels or the like adapted to slide within a channelled frame having a plurality of parallel channels, comprising a first slidable member adapted to slide in a first parallel channel in the frame, a second slidable member adapted to slide in a second one of the parallel channels, the side of said first channel adjacent said second channel having a notch therein, and depressible lock means carried by said first slidable member and adapted to engage said notch when aligned therewith, said lock means having a cam surface protruding into the path of said second slidable member and adapted to be engaged by said second slidable member so as to depress said depressible lock means thereby disengaging said depressible lock means from said notch.

5. A locking mechanism for window sashes adapted to slide within a channelled frame, comprising a notch in one wall of a channel in the frame, a slidable member mounted on a window sash and having a side adapted to slide Within said channel, and depressible lock means mounted in said side of said slidable member and adapted to engage said notch when aligned therewith, said depressible locking means being movable perpendicularly to a plane substantially containing said sliding panel.

6. A locking mechanism for a window sash adapted to slide Within a channelled frame, comprising a notch in one wall of a channel in the frame, a slidable member mounted on the window sash and having a side adapted to slide within said channel, and spring-biased depressible locking means mounted in said side of said slidable member and adapted to engage said notch when aligned therewith, said depressible locking means being movable perpendicularly to a plane substantially containing said sliding panel.

7. An automatically releasable locking mechanism for Window sashes adapted to slide within a frame having parallel channels, comprising a first slidable member mounted on a first one of the window sashes and adapted to slide in a first one of the parallel channels, the side of said first parallel channel adjacent a second one of the parallel channels having a notch therein, a second slidable member mounted on an adjacent one of said window sashes and adapted to slide in said second channel, and depressible lock means carried by said first slidable member and adapted to engage said notch when aligned therewith, said lock means having a cam surface protruding into the path of said adjacent one of said window sashes and adapted to be engaged thereby so as to depress said depressible lock means and disengage said depressible lock means from said notch.

8. The combination of an automatically releasable lock mechanism with a plurality of window sashes and a frame, comprising a window frame having first and second adjacent parallel channels, a first window sash adapted to slide in said first channel, a second window sash adapted to slide in said second channel, the side of said first channel adjacent said second channel having a notch therein, a first slidable member mounted on said first window sash and adapted to slide in said first channel, and depressible lock means carried by said first slidable member and adapted to engage said notch when aligned therewith, said lock means having a cam surface protruding into the path of said second Window sash and adapted to be engaged by said second window sash so as to depress said depressible lock means thereby disengaging said depressible lock means from said notch.

9. The combination of locking mechanims with window sashes and frames, comprising a window frame having at least first and second parallel channels in each side thereof, first and second window sashes associated respectively with said first and second channels and each having stiles and upper and lower rails, corner bracket and guide means mounted at each corner of said window sash for interconnecting said stiles and upper and lower rails, said corner bracket and guide means each including a guide detent adapted to slidably engage the channel with which its respective window sash is associated, thereby supporting said window sash in slidable relation with said frame, and depressible lock means mounted on the edge of at least one stile in each sash and adapted to slidably engage the channel associated with said stile, each of said channels in engagement with a depressible lock means having at least one notch in a wall of the channel, each of said lock means having a protruding boss adapted to engage said notch in its associated channel when aligned therewith, and said lock means on said at least one stile of one of said two window sashes having a cam surface protruding into the path of the other of said two window sashes and adapted to be engaged thereby so as to depress said depressible lock means and disengage said depressible lock means from said notch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 452,098 Collins May 12, 1891 528,769 Dickson Nov. 6, 1894 532,935 Woolery Jan. 22, 1895 1,248,785 Axe Dec. 4, 1917 1,405,829 Forsyth Feb. 7, 1922 2,547,315 Gray Apr. 3, 1951 2,595,016 Spector et a1. Apr. 29, 1952 

